Book Reviews

Abstract

R. D. Lord 2007. Mammals of South America. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 198 pp. ISBN 0-8018-8494-2, price (hardbound), $50.00. The foreword on the dust jacket of Lord's Mammals of South America makes 2 ambitious assertions, it “… provides the most vivid snapshot of South American fauna ever produced …” and “… will serve as a valuable reference for both students and professional mammalogists.” Clearly, there are few widely available works that have adequately documented large portions of the South American mammalian fauna with photographs. In terms of the number of color images of mammals endemic to South America, this volume could make a case for the 1st claim. However, other books, such as that by Macdonald (2006), have photographs of many of the same species that are equally, if not more, vibrant. With regard to the accompanying text, Lord's book is largely cursory in nature and falls short of its aim to be a reference book of great value to mammalogists. In the Preface , Lord emphasizes South America's equatorial location, its diversity of life zones and habitats, presence of extraordinary geologic features (e.g., the Andes, Amazon River, and Amazon forest), and the great species richness derived from these attributes. He …